Eh, chapter 17 here. I'm *still* having a problem with formats uploading correctly -_-, but I'm trying another one on this chapter, so if it comes up completely screwy, let me know immediately and I'll try to fix it. Thanks to those who reviewed. On with the show!! ^_^
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The Master stood with his back to his two remaining General's once more, his eyes dark with anger as his tail swished back and forth in agitation. The news of Maniac's defeat had finally reached them a week ago, and that had been a week after it had happened.
"You wanted us, sir?" asked Zelda after waiting awhile, impatient to get back to her troop so she could leave this creepy place.
"I want you and Darkblade to do a combined attack against these rebels," growled The Master, the veins in his neck bulging into view.
"The rebels and not the traitors," murmured Zelda under her breath, knowing he would hear what she said.
"The traitors are to be targeted at any cost," he added, turning around to face them. They could see by the dark rings under his eyes and the stubble on his face that he had not slept in days. His fur was ruffled and matted, and the clothes he wore now where dirty with stains and tears from ignoring his health and trying to find out where the rebels had gone next. "You understand, correct?"
"Yes, Master."
"Of course, Sir."
"Then I don't expect you to fail."
"Trust in us, sir," replied Zelda, her eyes glowing with anticipation. "We won't."
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Genki and Lili stopped at the bottom of the cliff, looking at the fields around them. To one side was another drop off, and around it was sparsely covered with woods and shrubs. A small waterfall trickled from the cliff into a fountain, running across the huge meadow to the drop off and down from there. It was about two miles distance to reach the trees, and almost seemed to be in half circle around the fountain from where they stood.
"Do you want to stay here?" Lili asked everyone, seeing they were as tired as she.
"Yeah."
"Sure."
"I'm good."
"Looks fine to me."
"Rest at last!"
"Then we stay. We can afford a small fire here, Holly, if you want to start dinner."
Holly smiled. "Thanks."
"Hare," said Lili, drawing up beside him. "How long has it been since we left Maniac and his fort to burn?"
Hare took out his abacus and began to slide the beads back and forth, quickly marking the days from his mind onto the counting instrument. "About...3 weeks. 19 days, to be exact. Why?"
"Just wondered."
Dinner was fried biscuits and ham, all cooked to perfection by the one and only Holly as they sat around and watched with glazed eyes and growling stomachs until she said it was ready and they got some for themselves.
"Who wants first watch?" asked Genki, having finished his in record time as always. "I'll take it if someone else will stay up with me."
"I will," said Slip, coming over and sitting by him.
"Alright," said Genki, patting him on the head. "Who wants second, then?"
"I'll take it," said Allen.
"I'll help," offered Golem. "Just wake me when its time."
"I will," said Genki, settling back in his seat as the others quickly fell asleep around the camp fire, a lazy fog drifting in as they did.
Before he knew it, it was Allen and Golem's turn to watch, so Genki placed the sleeping Slip in Holly's arms and woke them up, going to sleep beside the two as soon as he was done.
"Tired?" asked Golem, seeing Allen yawn and rub his eyes.
"Yeah," replied Allen with a slow nod.
"Go wash your face in the water. It should be cold enough to wake you up."
"Good idea." Allen did just that, taking care not to wake the others as he let the ice cold water bring him back to the world of the awake. On the way back, he looked out over the woods, blinking his eyes as he thought he saw something move through the fog.
"You see that?" asked Golem, at his side in a flash.
"Yeah," replied Allen, gripping the handle of his sword. "What do you think?"
"I don't know. It's too foggy to see anything clearly out here. Could've been just a trick of the shadows."
"I'll go wake up Lili and Zephyr," said Allen, slipping over to where the two were sleeping. "They'll be able to tell us what it is." He shook Zephyr's shoulder, watching as the hybrid merely rolled over and ignored him, too deep in sleep to wake up for anything. "That's strange..." He did the same for Lili, coming up with the same results.
"You can't get them up?" asked Golem from a distance, sitting back down by the fire.
"I can't," admitted Allen, sounding fairly confused. "Maybe we should wait until morning..."
"You're right," replied Golem, turning to gaze into the fire. "We'll tell the others in the morning..."
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Zelda stood motionlessly on the edge of a cliff with a few other tri-breeds, awaiting for one in particular to join them. A dark cloaked figure appeared out of the gloom, looking around for Zelda quickly.
"Have the camp been covered with the spores?" she hissed, keeping her back to him.
"Yes, master. The Plant hybrids have done their job well. Neither traitor will wake tonight to warn them of the danger," replied the monster, an uncertain blend of Salamander and Suezo.
"Good. Have Yuri's specialty unit circle around to the right as silently and discreetly as they can. I won't leave a hole for the rebels to escape through. The Master made his orders clear that he wanted the rebels dead or die trying. I intend to follow them to the letter."
"Yes, ma'am."
The others left her soon after, giving her the opportunity to stare at the camp with all the hate and malice she reserved solely for her brother. She wasn't sure what he had done, other than left the army, but her head told her that that was enough to hate him through the end of eternity.
"Today, I must wait and hide as my enemy walks into this trap. But tomorrow, tomorrow I will crush them and my fool of a brother and be victorious..."
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Genki woke up to someone shaking him violently, the fear obvious in Allen's voice as he brought him to the present. "What? What?" asked Genki groggily, rolling over and onto his knees. "What happened?"
Allen grabbed his head and jerked it over to the side of their camp, his gaze stretching to where the woods started. From there back was a sea of monsters, all dressed for battle under the standard of The Master."
"Oh my gosh..." said Lili, having been woken up as well by Golem. "Didn't you guys here or see anything? You should've woken me up last night at the first sign and I would've gotten us out of here!"
"We tried!" protested Allen, his face going red. "But neither you or Zephyr would wake up!"
Lili glanced over at Golem. "It's true," he said, holding up his hands. "We couldn't."
"Wake everyone else up," snapped Lili, going and standing at the edge of the camp with her arms crossed. "Now. We need to have a talk."
"What's going on?" asked Holly as Genki quickly roused her from her sleep. "Why are you- oh no..."
"Easy," said Genki, giving her a quick hug as he saw her go white as a sheet. "It'll be alright, just relax. They haven't attacked yet, they're just sitting there staring at us. Go make some breakfast, we'll need our strength in the hours to come, I'm afraid."
"Mind giving me some space to breath?" asked Slip from Holly's arms.
"Oh, sorry little guy."
"What are we doing today?"
"Waiting," said Tiger, sitting near by as he stared back at the army. "Tigress, pups, get up. Something's happened..."
Slip looked at the army with huge eyes, huddling down in Holly's arms one more as he began to shake.
"What?" asked Tigress, slowly raising her head. "It's early for....oh." She fell silent as she noticed the army, hiding her fear as her pups saw what she did and cowered beside her.
"Ma, I'm scared," whispered Temi, tears forming in her eyes. "I don't want to die."
"Me neither," added Ice, hiding his face in his mother's fur.
"Shh," said Zephyr, having been woken up by Lili. "It'll be alright, I won't let anyone kill you, I promise."
'Thank you,' mouthed Stormy as he walked away, going to sit by Lili's side. The pups relaxed and lay silently in her shadow, waiting for whatever was to happen next.
"What's all the fuss?" asked Pixie, waking up at Blue's side. "Come on you guys, it's too early to be- *gasp*!"
"I know," said Genki, glancing over at her as he helped Holly start breakfast. Her hands were shaking so bad that she almost spilled the water.
"Wake up, big guy," said Pixie, patting Big Blue on the leg. "We've got company..."
"Huh?" Big Blue sat up, glancing around in confusion. "Where in the world..."
"A trap," whispered Pixie, turning and glancing in his direction. "I don't know what exactly is going on, but things don't look good for us, do they?"
"No," replied Big Blue, furrowing his brow. "They don't."
"Tell me about it," muttered Hare, rubbing his face in his paws as he tried to focus his eyes. "So tell me, oh fearless leader Genki, how are we going to get out of this one?"
Genki shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "It looks like we'll be playing it by ear."
"What?! You mean wait until they kill us from starvation?" asked Hare, looking at him in surprise. "Come on, there has to be a better plan than that."
"They won't wait that long," said Lili, continuing to face the army that surrounded them. "Zelda is in charge. She might give us a chance to surrender, at least the rest of you other than me and Z, or she might not. Either way, I wager it'll last no longer than two days at the most."
"The wait or the battle?"
"Both."
"Gee, thanks. Two more days to live, whoop-dee-do."
"That's enough," growled Tiger. "No one's dead yet, and you're scaring the young ones."
"Key word there: yet. And they need to learn to face the facts while they're still alive enough to do so."
"So, you think this situation is hopeless, coward?"
"What did you call me, you-"
'QUIET!!' yelled Lili in everyone's minds, her jaw clenched as she stopped herself from yelling out loud. 'That is quite enough from both of you. Hare, we don't know what's going to happen, but it will happen to all of us each and the same, so stop acting like you're the only one who has a problem here. Tiger, I know you were trying to protect the pups, but the truth is we all might die today and there's nothing any of us could do about it.
We will all do our best to protect one another, but there is only so much we can do against such odds other than try. Fighting and bickering will not help us any. So, keep your lips zipped unless its an idea or a question, got it?' Everyone nodded solemnly, their eyes on her back. 'Good.'
The day went by slowly, everyone lying around or sitting by the fire and talking in low voices, resting themselves for the charge that was sure to come eventually, with or without warning.
About noon, Zelda and Darkblade stepped into view, completely decked out in their war gear as they walked to the middle of the field, a white flag hanging over their heads. Genki, Lili, and Zephyr went out to meet them halfway, leaving guards behind them and with an invisible shield before them in case of an attack.
"What do you want?" yelled Genki, stopping a few hundred feet away from the top General's of the enemy's army.
"Either we kill you or you come peacefully and allow the Master to make you apart of his army. The traitors must die, but the rest I shall allow to live. You have until tomorrow morning to give us your decision," said Zelda regally, acting as if none of this was really worth her time.
"We don't need time to decide," said Genki, crossing his arms defiantly as he bravely stared her down.
"Ready to give it up already, then?" asked Darkblade, nodding his head sagely. "That would be a very wise choice."
"No," replied Genki, continuing to stare at Zelda.
"What?!" cried Zelda in outrage. "You have no choice but to give up. Other than that, you'll die!"
Genki smirked. "We'll see about that. Besides, the sleep of death is preferred by all then the chains of ultimate slavery."
Zelda fumed, growling at them. "You have until tomorrow to change your mind, boy."
"We won't need the time," said Zephyr, turning his back on her. "But if you insist..."
"Shut up, traitor!"
"Look who's talking."
"Let's go," said Genki, starting to walk away. "We need to tell the others what she has said."
"Fine."
They headed back to the rest of the group, heads held high just for the sake of appearance as their hearts sunk even deeper into their chests.
"What'd they say?" asked Holly, rushing out to them the moment she was close enough.
"We have until tomorrow," replied Genki, putting his arm around her comfortingly.
"Until what?"
"We decided."
"Between what?"
"Surrender, or they'll attack." Everyone fell silent when they heard this, each one thinking their own thoughts for a moment.
"What did you say?" asked Tiger, watching his mate hold her pups tight.
"That we would never surrender," replied Genki, sitting down with Holly next to the fire. "She still gave us until tomorrow in case we change our minds."
Lili and Zephyr sat on the other side of the fire, staring into it carelessly. "They don't want to kill you," she added quietly. "All they really want is me and Z, they'll make you into soldiers for him, granted..."
"Never," said Stormy, getting up to stand before her. "Lilianne Sakura, you're as just as much a part of this group as Genki or Holly is, and we will never abandon you just for our own sakes." She nuzzled Lili's cheek as Lili gave the motherly monster a hug from where she was sitting in front of her. "Besides," said Stormy once Lili let go. "Even if you weren't here, I would never consent to letting my pups and mate be turned into mindless robots just for the pleasure of some Master."
"Thank you," whispered Lili, her heart lightening up despite the circumstances. She wouldn't have blamed them if they had bargained with her and Zephyr for their freedom, but it was nice to know that they cared enough that they wouldn't.
"Pups," said Tiger, drawing them close to him as Stormy walked over. "There's something we need to talk about."
"Is this necessary?" asked Stormy, sitting next to him as their pups sat before them. "They're still so young..."
"We don't know what may happen tomorrow," replied Tiger. "They need to understand this. Tempest Winds, Icewolf, you mother and I love you very much, but you do know that you could lose one of us or your friends tomorrow."
"Yes, father," they replied obediently, completely somber for once in their short lives.
"It is not your fault that you're too young to help us in the upcoming battle," continued Tiger, looking from one to the other. "I should never have agreed to let you come, it is too dangerous for you to be here, but I can't change any of that now and will just have to make the best of it. You do know that whatever happens tomorrow is not your fault, and that if something happens to us, your friends in this group will always be here for you as long as you live."
"Yes, father...." Ice buried himself between his parents, trying to hide his sobs as Temi ran to Zephyr's side, burrowing up against him as she cried as well.
"Shh, shh," whispered Zephyr, drawing her closer with his paws. "It'll be alright, Temi, don't cry, everything will be just fine."
"But what if I lose one of my friends?" she sobbed, her voice muffled by his fur.
"Temi, do you love your friends?"
"...yes."
"And do they love you back?"
"...I think so."
"Then you have nothing to worry about, for they will always be with you, in here." He touched her head gently with his paw. "And in here." He touched her chest. "See?"
"I think so..." She dried her eyes and snuggled against him, completely worn out from what had happened that night. "Thanks, Zephyr...I love you..."
"I love you too, Temi...goodnight..."
"...zzz..."
Lili got up and walked away for awhile, doing some drills to the side while the others talked amongst themselves and took care of some final business here or there.
"Big Blue?" asked Pixie, sitting beside him sadly.
"Hm?"
"Do you regret your time with me? I mean, you didn't have to stay with me after Moo's defeat and all..."
"I'd have nowhere to go," he replied putting his hand on hers. "You are the only family I ever had, other than some of your Captains like Frost and Claws, and the one I value the most. Staying with you was my decision, and I don't regret it at all."
"Thanks," said Pixie, leaning against her friend and protector for as long as she could remember.
"You're welcome."
"Hey," said Allen, coming up behind her softly.
"Hey," she grunted, continuing with her drill.
"What do you think is going to happen tomorrow?" he asked nervously, surveying the scene with wide eyes.
"I don't know," she replied with a shrug. "Really, anything could happen."
"Then, you're ready to die?"
"If I need to, so be it."
Allen nodded, giving her a look of understanding. "You will be missed if you do have to go," he whispered, hanging his head.
"Allen, do you realize that if both I and Zephyr die before we take out the majority of the army, there is little to no chance that anyone else will survive either?" asked Lili, stopping the drill and turning around to look at him.
"I know," he replied quietly, turning to look at the sun. "It's not something I'd like to admit, that we depend so much on you two, but I know."
"It's not so much depending on us," said Lili, turning his head to look at her. "All of you are fine fighters, ones I would be proud to have beside me any day, but the enemy is not one that you know well. Zephyr and I are one of them, that is our advantage over you. You can hold your own quite well, every one of you, but this is something or Zephyr and I were built for."
"Massive destruction."
"I prefer to call it eviction of vermin."
"Same difference."
"But not entirely."
Allen walked away and left her to her drills until she returned to the rest when the sun was setting, everyone too nervous for dinner and already worn out from the days events.
"Sweetie," teased Lili, patting Temi on the head and giving Zephyr a hug.
"What can I say?" replied Zephyr, smiling at her slightly. "She just needed someone to be a big uncle for her, so that's what I did."
"You're still a sweetie."
"So are you, you just don't like to show it much..."
"Hey! I have to keep a reputation here," said Lili softly, ruffling his fur.
"He's right," said Genki from where he and Holly sat, his arms wrapped around her. "You are sweet, when you want to be."
"And gentle, and considerate," added Holly, almost asleep. "*yawns*....when you want to be....'night....zzz..."
Genki kissed her on the top of her head. "'Night."
"Lover boy," teased Lili, laying back against Zephyr sleepily. "Who's keeping watch tonight?"
"I will," said Stormy, pacing restlessly back and forth as her mate and son slept soundly near by.
"And second watch?"
"Don't worry," she said, coming over and pulling the blanket over Lili with her teeth. "I'll take care of it."
"You're sure," replied Lili, giving her an odd look.
"I'm sure." Stormy sat by herself as the fire died, dimming her vision of the surrounding lands. But she didn't need its light to know what it held, waves upon waves of soldiers with only one thought on their minds....the rebels destruction.
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There it is, folks. Next chapter should be interesting, not an entire cliff hanger, it just gives you something to look forward to next time.
The vote comes up as:
Sequel: 6
Prequel: 1
Only until the end of the fic for you to vote, then I make my decision. I know more of you read this fic than that, so VOTE!!! And one more things, reviews are greatly appreciated, and if you haven't noticed they get you mentioned later on as well...
~crosseyedbutterfly~